The Final Landmark Designation Report for the Lechmere National Bank building at 225/227 Cambridge Street

Applications to demolish the one-story former Lechmere National Bank building and the three- story Gould House and Bakery at 207-209 Cambridge Street were received on January 11, 2016. The combined lots were proposed for redevelopment with a single commercial building for a CVS store and a related parking lot. The applicants requested a continuance and submitted a re- vised proposal in April 2016 that would have incorporated the bank’s south and west walls into the new building. The Cambridge Historical Commission found both buildings to be significant and preferably preserved in the context of the proposal, thereby initiating a six-month delay of demolition.

The applicants spent several months meeting with members of the community, primarily through a subcommittee of the East Cambridge Planning Team. In December 2016 they returned with a new design by Prellwitz Chilinski Associates for a mixed-use proposal with first floor retail and 46 units of housing on three upper floors. In the context of this design, the Historical Commis- sion found 207 Cambridge Street to be no longer preferably preserved.

At the same hearing, the Commission considered whether to initiate a landmark study, that being the fifth month of the six-month demolition delay. The Commission initiated a landmark study for the bank building (to be preserved in the new proposal) for the purpose of ensuring an appropriate exterior restora- tion. The Commission declined to initiate a landmark study for 207 Cambridge Street.

Citizens’ landmark petitions for both buildings were filed on November 22, 2016 but the Commission’s own hearing in December preceded the January hearings on the petitions.

The mixed-use development proposal had the support of the East Cambridge Planning Team, but another group of neighbors objected to the density of the building and the below-grade parking to be accessed from Gore Street. The necessary zoning petition expired and the applicants re- turned to the Historical Commission in August 2017 with another design.

The new design by BKA Architects of Boston and Brockton preserves the bank and demolishes the Gould House and Bakery. A one-story addition would be constructed around the bank, which would become part of the selling space for the proposed tenant, a CVS store. The Cambridge Street façade of the addition was designed in such a way that it would appear to be four contigu- ous buildings, each with its own storefront and cornice, but only the bank building would incor- porate an active entrance on Cambridge Street.

In the context of this design, the Historical Com- mission found 207-209 Cambridge Street to be not preferably preserved. Permitting for the pro- ject is in progress and selective interior demolition of the bank and demolition of the 1961 addi- tion at the rear could begin early in 2018.

6

July 2017 design by BKA Architects. In August 2017 the CHC found 207 Cambridge Street “not preferably preserved” in the context of this proposal.

II. Description

A. Architectural Description

This one story, 30’ high cast stone building has frontage of 27 feet on Cambridge Street and 71 feet on Third Street. The bank entry is flanked by monumental Doric columns and pilasters. The base course and door trim are polished Deer Isle granite. A large three-part wood transom is cen- tered over the doors. The classical temple design continues on the west side facing Third Street with four full-height divided-light windows providing light to the banking hall.

The east wall, which was once a party wall with another bank building, is windowless. A projecting cornice with a dentil band is topped by a two-course paneled parapet. The bank was designed by archi- tect Thomas M. James and built for Lechmere National Bank in 1917-18. James also designed the East Cambridge Savings Bank at 292 Cambridge Street in 1931. A low addition constructed on the rear (north) wall in 1961 served a drive-in teller and provided an entrance from the park- ing lot.

This addition was designed by architects Voltz & Kimberley.

7

South (front) and east elevations, February 2017.

North (rear) elevation, November 2017. Rear addition (1961) is to be removed.

8

B. Physical Condition

The bank is in good condition with the exception of water damage to the parapet and cornice, which is most evident on the west side. The cast stone, called “composite granite” in the contem- porary newspaper descriptions, has badly weathered in some areas, but not in a way that impacts the structural stability of the building. The original incised signs above the entry and along Third Street have been covered with later sign boards. West elevation, November 2017. Cornice deterioration from water damage is evident. South (front) elevation, November 2017. 9

C. Interior

Originally furnished in mahogany and marble, the bank interior was remodeled in 1941 with a new counter, screen, and resilient flooring. Several subsequent remodeling projects resulted in several layers of floor tile and carpet and new teller windows. The coffered ceiling, cornice trim, and wooden clock above the street entrance appear to be original. The bank’s vault also remains in place at the moment, but will be removed as part of the CVS store conversion.

Landmark designation does not provide protection of interior features. Bank vault.

Clock over entry doors (top right) and vault (middle).

Bank interior from mezzanine, looking toward entrance.

10

III. History and Significance of the Property

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the present neighborhood of East Cambridge was just a small up- land surrounded by two rivers and extensive salt marshes that completely isolated it from the rest of Cambridge. Although the first house was constructed there as early as the 1630s when it was known as Graves Neck and most of the land was owned in the 18th century by a wealthy Tory Richard Lechmere and known as Lechmere Point, no development took place, and the area was chiefly valued for its salt hay.

All that changed after the Revolution when land speculator An- drew Craigie purchased over 300 acres between 1795 and 1808, completed a bridge in 1809 link- ing the upland directly to Boston, and organized the Lechmere Point Corporation in 1810 to lay out and sell building lots.

The Lechmere Point Corporation’s street plan was accepted in 1811. This contained two adjacent grids connected at the bridgehead and stretched from what is now Second Street to Sixth Street and Charles Street to the Miller’s River; a few additional streets were planned to the west and south but these ran through impassible marsh. Blocks on the main north-south grid were uni- formly 200’ x 400’ and were divided into 50’ x 100’ lots, although the lots along the main thor- oughfare of Cambridge Street were only 25’ x 100’. Lots were sold at auction only to proprietors to resell or develop.